Oster FPSTBW8100 Electronic Wine Vacuum Cork with LCD Display, Black
Handheld electronic wine vacuum cork. Battery powered device (uses 2 x aaa batteries – included). Automatically removes air from opened bottles of wine once it is placed on the neck of the bottle. Countdown feature lets you know how much time is left until air is evacuated. Pressure release button allows you to easily remove vacuum cork when ready to serve. Built-in thermometer with blue lcd displays the wine’s temperature (degrees can be displayed in either celsius or fahrenheit).
Product Features
- Handheld electronic wine vacuum cork removes air from opened bottles of wine
- Blue LCD display shows wine’s current temperature in degrees F or C
- Built-in thermometer; pressure-release button for easy removal
- Low-battery indicator; requires 2 AAA batteries (included)
- Measures 2-2/7 by 2-2/7 by 4-1/2 inches; 1-year limited warranty
Works as Expected I purchased this as a gift for my mother. It’s a bit of a special purpose item that may not be suitable for everyone. The entire thing is one “cork” and must stay on the wine bottle to function. This was perfect for my mother, as she’ll only ever have one wine bottle open at a time. Wine-tasting types, though, would probably prefer one of the more expensive vacuum cork machines that can seal multiple bottles.The Oster Vacuum Wine Cork seems to work exactly as advertised. The initial use was a little confusing. After installing the two AAA batteries that came in the package, the expectation was that the buttons would do something when pressed, the display would light, or something to indicate that it was “on”. On the contrary, nothing will function until the device is actually one the wine bottle (which is actually pretty intelligent in retrospect). Once on the bottle, the top button will initiate the vacuum sequence, which takes approximately 60 seconds to complete (the LCD display shows a countdown). After the vacuum seal has been created the LCD display will show the temperature of the wine to (to one/tenth degree) in either Fahrenheit or Celsius (toggled via the button directly below the display). The bottom-most button releases the vacuum seal (another 60-second countdown cycle).All in all, the device seems to function very well and creates a tight seal even before the vacuum. My mother has only had the vacuum cork a few days now, so I can’t speak to how reliable it will be over time. Nevertheless, construction seems to be of good quality.
Will work if… My brother sent me as a gift. It didn’t work. I went through three sets of batteries trying everything to get it to do what it says it does. And, yes, I read and reread the instructions. Prior to throwing it away as junk and stop wasting batteries, I decided to tear it apart and see what was inside.Note: Not for the clumsy of fingers.I popped off the black top and carefully pried off the silver ring on the bottom and removed a small screw. This exposed the workings inside. With removal of four more small screws, I was able to get to the pump and sealing mechanism. The pump is a small piston that pushes on a small, silicon, two-sided cup which, it turns out has a rough and a smooth side. The rough side was down so I turned it over so the smooth side was down. This made sense to me for keeping a seal on the vacuum that makes the whole thing function. I put it all back together and VOILA! it works as advertised.It’s done a great job keeping leftover wine fresh up to a week since “repair.” I think the discrepancy in the reviews may be based on poor quality control on this pump part. If you get one put together right, it’s great. If not, not. Thus the low rating as the consumer shouldn’t have to repair a new piece of equipment and sending a defective one back is way too much hassle for this product. It is ingenious and, when working, really does what it’s supposed to.